Growing Darkness
by Hells Fiction
Summary: Zoro and his friends are trapped in a house lost in time. There's an insane doctor, a laughing skeleton, a jealous empress, and a grinning, strawhat wearing boy. And the darkness is growing. Zoro and the others have to escape before they're consumed by the darkness, but can Zoro really leave his new, ghostly friend behind?
1. The Strawhat

So this is the first story on this account that has an actual, pre-planned plot. And it's my second Zolu story on this account! Although Luffy doesn't even really feature until the end of the second chapter...

This story will be updated every Wednesday night, so it gives me plenty of time to write and beta the next chapter. The title is just a working title at the moment, I might change it later on. As always, please tell me if anything bothers you about my writing or the story itself; I'm sometimes too anxious to respond to reviews, but I do take all critique to heart; I'm not ignoring it, I promise!

**Chapter 1; The Strawhat**

Zoro didn't quite know what to expect when he'd been asked - or, to put it bluntly, blackmailed by Nami - to accompany his small group if friends after school. Although, friends was a strong word. They were more like irritating acquaintances that roped him in whenever they needed extra muscle and intimidation. In the past Zoro had scared off bullies, cruel relatives, even a couple of gamblers who were convinced, rightly so, that Nami had scammed them.

But this was just ridiculous.

"Haunted?" He asked skeptically, shooting Nami and Vivi a look. He kind of understood Usopp believing in something stupid as ghosts, but Nami and Vivi were rational, intelligent people. As for Sanji...

Zoro snorted, and Sanji's one exposed eyebrow twitched; he just knew Zoro was insulting him in his mind. Before he could pick a fight, however, Nami pressed her lips together.

"Of course I don't think it's haunted!" She snapped, placing her hands on her hips. Zoro looked up at the Gothic looking tower, and hummed. Well, if ghosts really did exist, this was definitely the sort of place they would haunt. Even in the middle of summer, with the sun beating down on them, the building gave off an eerie vibe to it, with the dark stone masonry and creepy sculptures littering its steeped roof. "But," Nami continued hesitantly, and Zoro turned back to her. "There is something weird about this place." Vivi nodded in agreement.

"Me and Kaya were down here a few days ago." She murmured. "And we heard some sort of screaming, like someone was being murdered in here..."

Zoro's eyes narrowed, but he shrugged.

"Sounds more like a job for the police than a bunch of kids." He commented, and Usopp shook his head.

"I went with them to the station." He replied. "They were almost completely ignored. Apparently they get these claims all the time; they consider it just a prank, or some kind of paranoia at this point."

"They're wrong!" Vivi insisted. "We heard it! It was... It was horrible." She swallowed. "Someone was dying in there." After a moment, Zoro sighed.

"Alright." He commented. "Could be fun." He shrugged, resting one hand on his swords at his hip. "We'll leave the door open, okay?" That way, he could send the others out if anything got too dangerous for them. Sanji hummed, lighting a cigarette and placing it between his lips.

"Naturally." He replied, placing one hand in his pocket, and he lifted his leg before Zoro could step forwards, kicking the door open. Zoro grumbled at him and stepped into the huge house, looking around and grabbing a heavy umbrella stand by the door, placing it against the door to hold it open. At the very least, the house was a lot cooler than it was underneath the beating sun. The others filed in, Usopp trailing at the back of the group and looking around nervously, and Sanji and Zoro ended up leading the way, Sanji taking full advantage of the situation to comfort the two girls of the group, showering them with reassurances and compliments.

It took them a while to comb through the rooms in the building, and every room was new and interesting. While the first floor was pretty impressive by itself, with a huge dining room, old style kitchen, and a ballroom with a gigantic, decadent fireplace, the other floors were fascinating.

"How many people lived here?" Usopp mused as they examined one of many bedrooms. Zoro hummed, looking over a large vanity table, adorned with carvings of snakes with large, jeweled eyes. Turning away as Nami admired a pair of golden snake shaped earrings, Zoro hesitated.

"Who..." He started, reaching for his sword, and Usopp tensed, hiding behind Zoro.

"What is it?" He squeaked, and Zoro frowned before taking a few steps forwards, looking around the room.

"I thought I heard something." He murmured, turning when he heard the whisper again, facing the long, heavy curtains that were drawn shut over the windows. Sanji's eyes narrowed as he made out the form of a person hidden behind the curtain, and he exchanged a look with Zoro. Zoro frowned, reaching out a hand and carefully gripping the edge of the curtain. When he pulled back the curtain, both boys preparing to attack, they were caught by surprise.

Hidden behind the curtain was a life size statue of a man. He had a starstruck, loving expression on his face, one hand reaching out as if frozen in time.

"Strange place for a statue." Zoro mused, sheathing his sword and backing up again. Sanji just huffed, turning away from the statue and tapping off some ash from his cigarette. Usopp, however, approached the statue, admiring it.

"It's so life like." He commented. "It almost looks real, whoever made this must have been an incredible artist." The art student wandered around the statue, humming. "I wonder what material was used, I've never seen material like this used before. Whatever it is, it must be hard to work with, it's quite grainy."

Zoro turned away, bored of listening to Usopp shower praises on the statue and its maker, looking around the room again. He could have sworn he'd heard a voice, but there really didn't seem to be anyone but them in the room, so he chalked it up to his imagination, leaving the room to head into the next room, Vivi hurrying after him.

"Roronoa-san, I really don't think we should wander off from the group," She started, catching Zoro's shirt when the man deviated from his course and clearing her throat. "And that's not the right way."

"Hmm?" Zoro looked around at her, his eyes following the direction she was pointing to the next unseen room, and he grumbled, letting the blue haired girl tug him towards the room he was originally headed for.

Each of the rooms were unique, clearly decorated by the people who used to inhabit them, but this one might have been the most interesting. It was messy and chaotic, the walls covered in dents, several chunks of stone gouged out from the heavy stone bricks.

"What the hell happened in here?" Zoro asked, examining one of the deep gouges. It had been worn smooth with age. The indentation was about a little bigger than his curled fists, but there wasn't any rubble around it, so someone must have been living here when it had happened. Zoro turned away from the wall, glancing around the room. There wasn't a bed; instead, a hammock hung from the ceiling, a pair of sandals hanging off of the end, the blankets tangled together in a confused mess of moth-eaten sheets. Similarly worn out clothes littered the floor, and Zoro picked his way through them to the corner of the room, where a wooden hook was installed. Hanging on it from a short piece of rope was a simple straw hat, and Zoro picked it up, looking over it. Unlike everything else in the room, all of which was damaged or torn in some way, the hat was in a nearly pristine condition, and it was obvious that it had been repaired numerous times; even the red ribbon around the hat looked like it had been carefully mended.

"Someone must have been really attached to that hat." Vivi mused, looking over Zoro's shoulder. The green haired teen nodded, carefully placing the hat back on its hook and resting his hand on Wado, fingers curling around the hilt.

There wasn't much else of interest in the room. A few childish scrawlings on stiff, rotting paper, that caused Zoro to assume the room had belonged to a young kid - the pirate theme the room seemed to have, with the hammock and dark wood furniture, would support that as well - and he almost smiled when he nudged some papers aside to see a messily drawn jolly roger, sporting a straw hat. "Cute." He muttered, straightening up again. "There doesn't seem to be anything else in this room." He mused, and Vivi nodded, pausing before taking the hat down from the hook. When she saw Zoro watching her, she cleared her throat.

"It, uh, it does't feel right, leaving it." She admitted. "Someone clearly loved this hat a lot. It seems a shame to just let it collect dust."

Zoro shrugged, turning away and heading out of the room, letting Vivi lead him. They caught up with Nami, Sanji and Usopp, who had gone on to the next room, and returned to their examinations of the rooms. One room sported several bookshelves, all of which were straining under hundreds of huge, old books on numerous subjects, from history books about wars, to stories of drama and tragedy. Another was filled with various instruments, music sheets stuck to every available surface. Every room had something unique and curious about them, and the group could have spent hours picking through each room, if Usopp's stomach hadn't started grumbling loudly.

"We've been in here a long time." Nami sighed, running her hand through her hair and tucking one orange strand behind her ear. "There really isn't anything here, is there." She turned to Sanji, smiling sweetly. "Sanji-kun," She chirped. "Can we come to your house for tea and sweets?"

Sanji's face lit up, and he immediately started babbling about the new recipes he wanted to show Nami, and that he would be delighted to have her and Vivi come to his home. His expression immediately soured when he looked at Zoro and Usopp.

"You two can go straight home." He grumbled, and Zoro scowled.

"Don't tell me what to do, shitty cook." He growled, reaching for his swords, and Sanji slipped his hands into his pockets, lifting one leg into a fighting pose. However, before Zoro could make the first move, something reached his ears, and he hesitated, looking around.

"What..." He trailed off, and Sanji lowered his leg, surprised by Zoro's sudden distraction. When Zoro and Sanji were getting riled up for a fight, they didn't just blow the other off! That was just rude.

"Oi, shitty Marimo!" He snapped, annoyed, and Zoro put up a hand to shush him, which only served to annoy the chef even more.

"Roronoa-san?" Vivi asked, and Zoro hummed, frowning.

"I thought I heard someone laughing." He murmured, staring down the hallway. He could have sworn he'd heard a little chortle of amusement. Taking a few steps down the hall, he hesitated when the rotting floorboards started to splinter under his feet, taking a couple of steps back and sighing.

"All right, enough now." Nami huffed. "This whole place is going to come down on top of us if we're not careful. Let's go." She grabbed Zoro by the ear, dragging the man after him and ignoring his angered protests. She hesitated when she reached the door, however, loosening her grip on Zoro and letting the man pull away.

"Who closed the door?" Vivi asked, looking around for the heavy umbrella stand that was holding the door open, which was no where to be seen.

"Usopp was in last." Sanji commented, and the group all turned to look at Usopp, who flinched.

"I- It wasn't me!" He defended quickly, and Zoro huffed, shaking his head.

"The umbrella stand would have been too heavy for Usopp to easily move." He commented, heading to the doors and pulling the handle. No matter how much he pushed, however, the door wouldn't budge. "Locked?" He asked, and Sanji snorted.

"What happened to that brutish strength?" He gloated, walking past Zoro and lifting his leg, kicking the door hard. It shook, but didn't open, and he paused, blinking at the door before scowling, as if the door's refusal to open was some kind of personal insult. He kept kicking the door, and eventually, with one particularly violent kick, he ended up breaking the lock, blasting the door open.

The cook staggered back as a harsh wind hit him, bringing a hand up to cover his face as snow was blown into his eyes.

"What the-" He started, and the others took several steps back as they stared at the furious snow storm that was wailing outside the door. Nami's eyes widened.

"What on earth?!"


	2. All Hell

Chapter 2! And, uh... The story completely changed while I was writing last night. I deleted five chapters because of my changes. So now the story goes down a much darker route than it was originally going to go down, but at the same time, I get to include more supernova antics! So that's fun. And no matter how dark the story gets, I'm going to try and stay true to One Piece and balance it out with some humor.

**Chapter 2**

**All hell**

Zoro used his foot to push the snow that had piled in through the door back outside, grunting as he closed the door and propped it shut with a chair, so it wouldn't be opened by the wind again. The doors heaved and rattled, but they held strong despite the raging wind battering against them. Zoro exchanged a look with Sanji, who wordlessly grabbed another chair, propping it up next to Zoro's first chair.

"Why the hell is it snowing?!" Nami exclaimed, trying to find a window she could look out of, but while there had been tall, dirty windows set in the cold stone walls, there was now just wooden boards replacing glass. "What's happened to the windows?! What's _happening?!_"

"Nami-swan!" Sanji cooed, turning away from the door with a delighted expression. "I'll protect you!"

Vivi chewed her lower lip, looking at Zoro, who was trying to ignore the way Usopp flitted around, screaming about ghosts and curses. "It's the middle of summer." She murmured, carefully hanging the straw-hat on the stair banisters.

"I know." Zoro muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to think.

"It was so hot when we came in-"

"I _know_." Zoro ground out between his teeth. He didn't know what was going on any more than any of the others did, but they couldn't freak out like this. They would just make the situation even worse. He glanced at Vivi, who averted her gaze, focusing on her feet. He hadn't meant to snap at Vivi, and after a moment he sighed softly.

"Hey-" He started, but he was interrupted by Usopp, who was still bemoaning their situation, and how they were sure to die. Zoro grumbled, gritting his teeth, but Nami spoke up before he could.

"Okay, everyone calm down!" She snapped, taking a breath. "We've got to stay calm." She repeated, but she sounded more like she was reminding herself than anything. Zoro sighed, catching Usopp by the back of the shirt when the younger teen ran past him again, still panicking. Usopp choked when his collar tugged on his neck, cutting off his air supply for a brief moment.

"Oi," Zoro growled. "Stop shouting, you're making it hard to think." He let Usopp's shirt go, looking around at the others. Vivi shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"It's cold..." She murmured, and Zoro frowned; they were all dressed in summer clothes, thin shirts, shorts and skirts, and now their breath was starting to mist in front of them, as if they needed any other reminders as to how drastically the temperature had dropped. Their first priority was to keep warm, and Nami seemed to have the same idea.

"Zoro, Sanji," She started. "Find something for a fire, any wood you can find. Usopp, head to the ballroom, try to start a fire in the fireplace. Vivi, me and you are going to look for sheets and blankets to use."

Zoro grumbled at being told what to do, but didn't actively complain; now wasn't the time. Even they knew Shooting a glare at Sanji, who returned it with one of his own as he passed his lighter to Usopp, the two men started to search for burnable material.

Their search led them down to the basement, where they found a cluster of broken chairs and tables. "This will do." Sanji commented, and Zoro grunted, picking up a table top and balancing it on his shoulder, not looking phased by the weight. Considering the size, he adjusted the table top, propping it against the wall. With one solid kick, it splintered into pieces, and Sanji's eye twitched.

The shitty moss head was showing off, and he refused to be outdone by the neanderthal sword wielder. As he pulled a table up from the pile and swung his foot, shattering the wood into several small pieces, a gleam of competition entered Zoro's eyes.

By the time the last chair had been smashed to pieces, the two men were seething.

"There!" Zoro snapped. "I broke up more tables then you did!"

"I broke twice as many chairs as you!" Sanji retorted, tossing the remains of the chair leg to the side and grinding his teeth around the end of his cigarette.

"Like hell you did, pervert cook!" Zoro growled, reaching for his swords. Sanji's eyes narrowed, and he raised his leg to block the back of Zoro's sword, scowling.

"What did you call me?" He snarled. Zoro was stopped from retorting, however, by an unfamiliar voice.

"Yo ho ho! Someone could get hurt like that!"

Zoro and Sanji froze, turning their heads towards the source of the mystery voice. All the colour drained from their faces.

* * *

Usopp grumbled as he tried to light the crumpled papers he'd gathered up, huffing when the tiny flame he'd managed to produce flickered and died. His fingers were already covered in small burns from his efforts, and he fumbled with the lighter Sanji had passed him, frowning before trying again.

When a flame finally came to life on the paper, Usopp dropped the lighter, his eyes lighting up as he wiggled onto his stomach and started to feed the fire with scraps of paper, getting it ready to place wood on it later. He beamed when the fire started to catch and grow, delighted that he'd actually managed to produce something that would _help_, but his joy was short lived; the huge doors into the ball room swung open, and gust of air rushed through the room, extinguishing the small fire Usopp had been trying to maintain. Usopp blinked at the dying embers as Nami stepped into the room, and sighed, hanging his head.

"Huh? Usopp, you haven't sorted out the fire yet?" Nami asked, placing the pile of sheets down next to the fireplace, not noticing Usopp's look of despair. "Where's Zoro and Sanji?"

"They're still getting wood." Usopp muttered, poking the charred paper with a mournful expression, as if he was silently willing it to start burning once more. "They've probably gotten into a fight."

Nami shook her head in exasperation, placing her hands on her hips.

"Honestly, we can't leave them alone for more than a few seconds." She grumbled, shaking her head before heading out of the ballroom again to gather up more sheets. Usopp turned back to the fireplace before reluctantly picking up the lighter to return to his efforts, grumbling each time his efforts failed.

"Here, let me help with that." Usopp blinked when the papers suddenly burst into flames before hurrying to fuel the fire with more paper, eyes lighting up.

"Hey!" He chirped excitedly, turning around. "How did you-" He froze, staring at the man standing over him.

* * *

Vivi smiled softly as Nami headed back up the stairs, depositing another pile of blankets next to the stairs. "I hope dad remembers to feed Carue..." She murmured, and Nami hummed.

"Vivi, I've met your duck; there's no way he would let your dad forget." She commented with a smile, running her hand through her hair. "For now, we've got to focus on what we're doing here." Vivi nodded, looking down at the sheets, and Nami hesitated before sighing. "I'm sorry." She murmured. "I just-"

"I know." Vivi looked up at Nami and smiled. "We're all scared. But you don't have to tiptoe around me; I'm not the crybaby I used to be."

Nami let out a particularly unladylike snort, shaking her head.

"Vivi, you were _never_ a crybaby, you were always the toughest girl I knew." She replied, and Vivi returned the smile Nami shot her.

After a moment, the girls got back to work, picking through blankets and pillows and deciding which ones were still fit to be used, and which were too worn with age.

Vivi was sorting out the tangled and torn blankets in the room her and Zoro had found the straw hat in, when she heard someone clearing their throat. Trying to crane her neck to see past the pile of blankets in her arms, she looked around curiously.

"Nami?" She asked.

"What's up?" Nami called back, appearing in the doorway. The orange haired girl froze, staring at Vivi's feet.

"Excuse me," A little voice perked up from somewhere near Vivi's knees. "Have you seen a straw hat? My captain will be upset if he finds out it's missing."

Vivi blinked and looked down. Her eyes widened, and the blankets tumbled from her arms, landing with a soft _flumph_ on the ground.

* * *

In the attic, a head of erratic, flaming red hair was lifted when the screaming started. The owner of the hair snorted.

"Some idiots have wandered in again." He muttered, leaning back against the wall. Sat on a barrel, a pink haired girl huffed, propping one leg up on a crate and leaning against the wall as she listened to the screams and shouts.

"Humans never learn." She muttered. "Fucking morons." The group started to turn back to what they had been doing, but they paused when a pair of sandal clad feet hit the ground, looking up at the boy who had pushed himself up. The black haired teen grinned, pushing his straw hat back.

"It sounds interesting." He chortled. "Let's check it out!"

A cruel grin rested on the red-haired man's lips, and the group pushed themselves up, ready to join the chaos.


	3. Breaks Loose

**Chapter 3**

**Breaks loose**

Zoro slammed the door shut in the skeleton's face, steel grey eyes wide and panicked, and he looked around when he heard screams.

"Vivi-chan, Nami-swan!" Sanji blurted, turning on his heel to race up the stairs to the girl's rescue. Reaching for his swords, Zoro started to follow him, stopping when he heard Usopp's panicked yells. Deciding Sanji had the girls, Zoro turned, sprinting to the ballroom and drawing Wado. He hesitated when he saw Usopp scrambling back from the man stood by the fireplace, facing away from Zoro. Or floating next to the fireplace, considering that the slightly transparent man's legs trailed off into a gaseous substance at the knees.

The stranger sighed, adjusting the orange hat he was wearing and rubbing his ear. "You don't have to be so loud." He commented, turning to face Zoro and Usopp. Zoro jerked when he saw the deep, open wound in the center of the man's chest, his fingers tightening around his sword, and with his free hand he pulled out a second sword, daring the man -_ghost _\- to come closer.

"Yo." The stranger introduced, holding a hand up in greeting. "Don't freak out. Just looking for my brother's straw-hat."

"Straw..." Zoro trailed off, staring at the man, and he jerked when he heard a familiar laugh behind him.

"Yo ho ho ho! All that screaming scared the life out of me! Although I'm already dead. Yo ho ho ho!" Zoro turned slightly, eyes narrowing when he saw the skeleton approaching, readying his swords. Seeing this, the ghost raised his hands quickly.

"Hey, wait," He started. "You don't need to be so hostile, we're not going to hurt-" He was interrupted when Zoro lunged for the skeleton, and the ghost's eyes widened. "Brooke!" He yelped.

Zoro's swords connected with metal, and Zoro paused, staring at the sword that had been pulled from the Skeleton's walking stick. When had he unsheathed that?

"Yo ho ho ho!" The skeleton - Brooke - chortled, and Zoro hesitated as his mind stopped focusing on _holy shit this skeleton is talking_, and instead drifted to the bouncing mass of black hair on the skeleton's head. The skeleton had an afro. At this point, Zoro wasn't even surprised; he was 90% sure that he was in a drug induced haze, and that this was all some fever dream. The other 10% considered the idea that he'd tripped and knocked himself out, and was in a coma. Probably with Usopp stood over him, drawing a mustache on his upper lip.

"Those swords are fascinating." Brooke continued, and Zoro looked down at his swords. "They're katana, am I correct?"

"Yeah, they, they are." The teen confirmed, adjusting his hands around the swords before taking a step back. Somehow, Zoro got the impression that the skeleton was trying to _smile_.

Behind him, the ghost sighed in relief that the skeleton hadn't been harmed, and he cleared his throat, but it was no use; Zoro and Brooke had started talking about their swords, and they didn't notice him at all. After a moment, where he stared at the swordsmen's backs as he was completely ignored, the ghost turned to Usopp, who was still on the floor, staring at the ghost and skeleton. The ghost lifted his hand, waving it in front of the long nosed teen's eyes and sighing when he didn't get a response. Well, that wasn't a good sign.

* * *

When Sanji reached the girls, Vivi was assaulting something small and fluffy with a pillow that just went straight through the creature, and he hesitated for a moment, confused.

The thing, whatever it was - a raccoon? Did raccoon's have antlers? - scrambled away from Vivi, narrowly dodging the kick Nami aimed at it, and grabbed Sanji's trouser leg, standing right next to him and staring with wide eyed terror at the two girls.

Vivi and Nami, getting over their previous panic, hesitated as they stared at the blue nosed creature, who stared back at them.

"Um," Vivi started, but she was interrupted by a loud, excited voice.

"Hey, Chopper!" The voice called, and the creature scrambled away from the trio, fleeing down the hall and into the arms of a young boy, who had to be a bit younger than them. The boy grinned as he caught Chopper, who was sobbing loudly.

"Luffy!" The animal cried. "It was scary! Those girls were scary!"

Luffy looked up at the three of them, adjusting his straw-hat as he did so, and Nami swallowed when she met eyes that looked far too old and intense to be in such a young face. But then the boy was smiling and chortling, shattering the illusion.

"Yo!" Luffy greeted, raising a hand. "Who are you?"

Sanji tensed slightly, looking the boy over. Both the creature and the boy were slightly transparent, their legs drifting off into nothing. They weren't _normal_...

The three teenagers didn't have a chance to answer, however, because to their horror, a head of vibrant red hair dropped through the ceiling, landing in front of them and rolling to face them, eyes shut. Nami clutched Sanji's arm, her breath catching in her throat. And then the head's eyes opened, its painted mouth spread into a mocking grin, and the three humans _freaked_.

Luffy's laughter followed them as they fled, Sanji pushing both girls in front of him towards the front door, remaining chivalrous even when they were fleeing from ghosts.

Nami slammed head first into Brooke as they ran, and she looked up, her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates when she saw the skeleton staring down at her, and a blood curdling scream left her.

She scrambled back from the skeleton before turning and fleeing, grabbing Vivi's hand as she ran and tugging her friend away. Zoro opened his mouth to try and stop the two girls, but Usopp was grabbing at his arm and babbling unintelligible nonsense, and Zoro's attention was pulled away from the girls. He froze when he saw a huge, intimidating figure standing on top of the stairs, eyes widening. Sanji had already gone after the girls, so Zoro pushed Usopp away.

"Follow the others," He instructed. "Stay in a group." Usopp didn't need telling twice; the boy shot away, leaving Zoro to face the gigantic figure on his own.

* * *

Sanji slowed to a jog and looked around, frowning. He'd ran after Nami and Vivi, but he seemed to have been running down this same corridor for a good five minutes, and he hadn't seen any doors or any end to the corridor. "Nami-swan?" He called. "Vivi-chan?" He frowned, turning around. "Usopp? Mosshead?" There was no reply, and Sanji's frown deepened. The house wasn't _that _big...

Something creaked behind Sanji, and the blond spun around, swinging his leg through the air batter his potential assailant. He regained his balance quickly when his leg just sliced through thin air before straightening up to stare at the slowly opening door.

That hadn't been there a couple of seconds ago.

After a moment, Sanji started to slowly approach the door, peering through the doorway. The room beyond wasn't particularly small, but the piles of books spilling off of tables and bookshelves gave it a cramped appearance. An oil lamp sat on one table, filling the room with its dim glow, and Sanji had to squint to make out the two large chairs on the far side of the room. A feminine figure sat in one chair, and Sanji stepped forwards to get a better look, not notice a hand blossom out of the wall behind him and close the door after him.

"You must be one of the intruders." The figure murmured, and she giggled softly. "You've caused quite an uproar, you know." The woman lifted her head from her book, tucking jet black hair behind her ear, and Sanji took another step forward, his heart skipping a beat as he made out sharp, defined features.

"You..." He started softly, before falling to one knee in a dramatic bow. "For you, my dear, I will be whatever you want me to be."

The woman chuckled softly. "Will you?" She asked. "How very kind."

* * *

It felt like they'd been running for hours when Nami and Vivi finally stopped their frantic sprint, slamming into a room and locking the door behind them, and the two girls bent over, gasping for breath.

"Do, do you think we lost them?" Nami asked between pants, and Vivi grunted in reply, sinking to her knees

"Was that a skeleton?" She murmured, voice tinged with fear and despair. Nami made an affirmative sound, taking in one last deep breath before straightening up. She looked around, hesitating when she realized that she had no idea where they were. She couldn't remember ever seeing a room like this during their previous exploration of the house; it was dark and dank, littered with candles that seemed to provide very little light. In the middle of the room was a small, round table with a pack of cards on it and a stool, but apart from that, it was empty. Nami turned to examine the door; they'd locked it, but only because a large, ornate silver key was in the lock already.

Still, they could take a short break in the room before moving on to try and find the others. Vivi seemed to be of the same mindset, because she was moving to sit against the wall, tying her hair back.

"Do you think the others will be okay?" She asked softly. Nami hummed.

"Sanji and Zoro can look after themselves." She told her friend, joining her on the ground against the wall. "And they wouldn't let anything happen to Usopp." Vivi nodded, satisfied with the answer. The two girls sat there for several long minutes, getting their breath back, before Vivi broke the silence again.

"That boy..." She started, trailing off before starting again. "The raccoon-creature called him Luffy, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I think so." Nami confirmed.

"He was really young." Vivi continued softly. "I mean, I know he must have been in his teens, but... he seemed really young, and childlike. Too naive to be in a place like this..."

"There is far more than meets the eye when it comes to Strawhat."

The girls tensed when they heard the voice. They slowly turned their heads to look at the blond man sat at the table, carefully laying down the cards. They stayed completely silent, just staring at the long haired man as he turned and placed cards as an eternity stretched by in a few brief seconds.

* * *

Usopp had been stumbling to a stop when he heard the screams, but the cries of his friend's despair set him off running again. Towards the screams to save Nami and Vivi, or away from the screams to save himself, he didn't know.

Hell, what could he even do if he _did _go to Nami and Vivi?! He wan't like Sanji and Zoro! He wasn't a monster like they were! Tears of fear streaming from Usopp's eyes, he didn't notice the little girl before he'd almost run over her. He screeched to a halt, staring at the pink haired girl. The girl stared back at him.

And then, without missing a beat, Usopp turned and ran the other way.

Fuck. That. Shit.


	4. Confrontation

Some of you might be wondering why this chapter is out so late. The answer is that Hells Fiction is a dirty rotten liar who can't keep to deadlines.

So, the general consensus over last chapter seems to be that it was too chaotic. So, at some point, I'm going to split last chapter into two chapters, and pad both chapters out a bit.

On a brighter note, I'm finally giving you all some interation between Zoro and Luffy! I get to it eventually!

Chapter 4

Confrontation

Zoro's eyes narrowed as he drew his swords, eyes fixed on the collosal man slowly descending the stairs. He was huge, and probably strong, but he didn't look particularly fast, and Zoro grinned to himself; he could take him.

"Ah, Urogue-san," The skeleton started, sheathing his sword and walking forwards. "I-" The skeleton passed right through the giant, and Zoro hesitated. That... could be a problem. An opponent he couldn't touch...

But then, that meant the man couldn't touch him either. Zoro straightened up, stowing his swords away and sighing. "Excuse me," He started, turning away. "I need to find those idiots-" Zoro was cut off when something big and heavy slammed into him, and the world went white for a brief moment.

When then world stopped swimming, Zoro found himself slummed against the wall, and he groaned, his hand lifting to feel the back of his head. It came away smeared with blood, and Zoro squeezed his eyes shut as pain throbbed through his entire body. "Son of a..." He grumbled, shakily pushing himself back up to his feet, leaning against the wall as the world started to spin. Right; standing up wasn't a good idea right now. Deciding it was too late to worry about that, Zoro blinked a couple of times before looking up at the giant who'd handed his ass to him. The green haired man glared at the giant, running his eyes over the taller man. With what appeared to be a perpetual grin, Zoro already knew the man was going to piss him off.

"Hmm, he survived." The giant commented, lifting up the pillar he'd used to send Zoro flying across the room. Zoro gritted his teeth, and drew his swords. The giant chuckled at Zoro's futile display of courage, and the two of them squared off.

Zoro had just taken a step forwards when a loud wail tore through the house, and Zoro stumbled, his attention shattered. "What the fuck?!" He blurted, his head snapping around to try and find the source of the noise. The wailing continued to grow louder, and the giant sighed, shaking his head and lowering the pillar.

"What's upset him this time?" He mused in a deep voice, and Zoro glanced at the skeleton for some explanation for what was going on. The skeleton sighed.

"Luffy-san." He started. "He's probably found out that his hat is missing." The giant groaned, glancing up the stairs. Zoro followed his gaze, adjusting his grip around his swords and narrowing his eyes. What was he going to face now?

The wailing trailed off, and Zoro paused before straightening up, assuming the threat had passed.

And then something small and red sped down the stairs, darting from one side of the room to the other.

"Where is it? Where is it?!" The blur babbled, passing through doors and walls and shooting back and forth. "Where has it gone?!" The blur screeched to a halt infront of Zoro, letting Zoro finally have a good look at it.

The floating orb was maybe the size of Zoro's hand at the most, and it pulsed with a frantic red glow as it quivered in front of Zoro.

"Hat?" It asked. "Do you have it?" It shot around Zoro, circling him several times before darting away again once it decided that Zoro didn't have its hat. The orb careened right into the giant's hand, and the giant caught it, holding it up between two fingers.

"Strawhat." He thundered. "Calm down. You're stuck in orb form."

"Stuck?" The orb asked. "I'm not stuck, I'm fine-" The glowing ball hesitated. "Oh. I'm an orb!" It announced, and the giant chuckled, lowering the orb down to the ground.

Zoro frowned, watching the orb as it quivered and shook. "What-" He started, but he was cut off by a bright flash of light that temporarily blinded the green haired man. Zoro stumbled back, blinking hard and rubbing his eyes before looking down at the place the orb had been.

A dark haired boy was sat where the orb had once been, and he looked up at Zoro with wide, curious eyes. "Huh?" The boy started, tilting his head. "Who're you?"

Behind the boy, the giant sighed, lifting the boy off the ground and placing him on his feet. "Strawhat." He started, poking him. "Your hat is right here."

Indeed, there was a hat hanging from the boy's neck, and Zoro swallowed when he saw it; hopefully, Vivi wouldn't be in any trouble for moving the straw hat.

The boy huffed, pulling the hat up and onto his head.

"It's not the same!" He insisted. "My hat isn't in my room! It's gone!" Zoro paused before sheathing his katana; the giant was distracted, and the boy wasn't any threat.

"I saw a hat." He started, and the boy was immediately on him, nose almost brushing Zoro's. The swordsman gritted his teeth; the younger man was far too close for his liking.

"You saw my hat?" The boy asked. "Where, where was it? Where did you see it? Urogue! He said he's seen it!" Turning back to Zoro, the boy grinned. "You're a good guy!" He declared, his eyes widening. "You look strong! You're cool, you're going to be my nakama!"

Zoro blinked at the boy. "Huh?" He asked, and the giant - Urogue - chuckled.

"He's got you now, kid." Urogue commented, resting his pillar on his shoulder. "Now Strawhat's decided you're going to be his friend, you're never getting away from him." Zoro made a face, looking down at the boy, who was busying himself with trying to grab Zoro's arm, his hands passing through the man.

"Oi," He started, and the boy looked up at him with a grin.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He announced, and Zoro frowned.

"I'm, uh... I'm Zoro." He replied. "Roronoa Zoro." Luffy beamed, and he started to walk away before freezing, turning back to Zoro.

"Hat!" He announced. "You said you knew where my hat was!" He looked up at Zoro hopefully, and Zoro raised an eyebrow. The boy reminded him more of a large, excitable puppy, and no matter how had he tried to be annoyed at his chipper tone and constant moving, any irritation he felt just faded away when faced with that bright grin. The man sighed, running his hand through his short hair.

"It's on the banister." He announced, looking around at the stairs. He hesitated, noting a severe lack of straw hat on the banister. Luffy turned to look hopefully, but his shoulders dropped when he looked at the banister. The two paused for a moment, before Luffy looked at him.

"Are you an idiot?" He asked bluntly, and Zoro scowled at the boy.

"Shut up, it was right there." He muttered, walking to the banister. Had someone moved it in the chaos? Luffy huffed, sitting down on the stairs.

"Where did my hat go?" He mourned, tears starting to well in his eyes. Urogue glanced at Luffy and shook his head before looking at the banister with a frown.

"You sure it was here?" He asked, and Zoro nodded, fingers drumming against the hilt of Wado. "If it was taken away, it's probably the work of _that_ group." Zoro glanced at the huge man, frowning.

"That group?" He asked, looking down at Luffy. His ghostly hat had tilted to cover his eyes, throwing his face into shadow, and Zoro hesitated, staring at the boy.

"Blackbeard's crew." Luffy spat, fingers curling into fists. Zoro looked between Luffy and Urogue, frowning softly.

"Blackbeard?" He asked. When he didn't get a reply from the two ghosts, he swallowed. Somehow, he found himself not wanting an answer.


End file.
